People Want To Be "Wowed!"

Once in awhile I catch a really good documentary on the television.  The ones I seem to find most captivating are the historical pieces that actually changed history.  I find myself glued to the screen when I discover how history was turned by some simple event that given any other time in history to occur, may have simply happened without notice.  A piece of history given in this fashion simply "wows" me.  I am one of those people who like to be "wowed."

I will not likely be caught spending a weekend afternoon watching a NASCAR race event on the television.  For millions of NASCAR fans, I am not in your entertainment circle.  Even though I respect the passion people find in a particular sport and the interest generated for the lives of the people who "drive" any sport, I somehow skipped the NASCAR craze.  I have close friends that can describe the details of a great race 23 years ago.  I might recognize a name or two when they relish that race with their companion NASCAR friends.  The belonging and connectivity is beautiful.  I, however, could not generate the same flavor of passion for NASCAR.  Even so, being removed from the obsession, I will wait up longer to see a spectacular crash involving a NASCAR race earlier in the day.  If I am up late checking out the first part of the evening news, planning to go to bed right after the headlines...and they flash a tantalizing piece of a spectacular NASCAR crash...I am waiting up to see the 'rest of the story.'  If the news reel is spectacular enough, I will Google it again to see it over and over.

We like to be "Wowed."

So what does this characteristic mean to our business model?  How does it fit?

We can all appreciate a really good "wow" moment.  Sometimes we use "wow" moments to strike up friendly conversations.  Sometimes we use "wow" moments to lead the way in conversations with friends and family.  It is as if my bigger "wow" beat your littler "wow."  We actually compete for attention with our base of "wow" knowledge.  You know this is true.  The one with the biggest "wow" wins.

Does my business model help people "wow around" with friends and coffee?  When people exit from my website, do they "wow" with wonder?  Charlie Sheen "Wows" us.  Ten million hits!  Logan the 13-year-old cowboy with a heart of gold, "wows" us.  Nine point seven million hits!  A drunk and naked celebrity "wows" us as the lead news story of the day.  Fifty million viewers!  People want to be "Wowed."  I had a sprinkler valve break in my back yard, 2 viewers, no big deal to the rest of the world.  My sprinkler valve break is a very dead story to pass on.  People want to be "Wowed!"

"Great Site For Creative Phrases!"

Maybe the t-shirt guys can make a new t-shirt..."Wowed and Loud and Proud of it!"  Check out the link http://www.tshirthub.com/
If you want to give a great gift, this "t shirt" place can be an interesting choice!  You can "wow" a friend.  People want to be "Wowed."

Does your business build "wow" opportunities?  Better yet, do the "wow" experiences your customers receive come from good or bad experiences?

I was windsurfing a few years ago at a riverfront park.  The shore was lined with sails, boards and equipment.  Some people were out sailing, some were sitting on the grassy part of the shoreline.  A group of windsurfers from Canada were getting ready to break out their cooler for lunch.  In the parking lot was a food vendor mobile lunch wagon.  It was a little camp trailer converted into a mobile kitchen.  It was owned and operated by someone trying to make a go of it in business.  The Canadians had drinks, food and all the needed trimmings in their cooler for lunch.  This was a public park.  One of the guys from the lunch group walked to the camper lunch wagon and asked for a couple of cups with ice.  The owner refused to oblige.  I was sitting near enough to hear the conversation.  It was not a good piece of business work.

The Canadian walked away empty handed and not very pleased.  I was in shock.  Being a merchant all of my adult years, I decided to "save" this poor business operator.  I walked up to the camp trailer converted kitchen window.  I asked to buy four cups of ice.  He gazed at me for a little while.  I responded to the silence with, "How much?"  After another pause, he came up with his next defense.  It was no longer an issue of selling products for profit, it became to him, an issue of ego.  He knew exactly what I was intending to do and it wicked him off.  He countered my silent response to his silence with this line, "I do not have enough ice in my cooler to use for the other soda paying customers."  I was aware of a mini-mart store located less than a mile from this particular park.  I responded with this line, "I will go get you more ice at the mini-mart up the road, for the trade of four cups of ice."  He agreed to get rid of me with compliance.  He said, "OK."

I took the four cups of ice to the Canadians sitting on the grass in front of the camp kitchen owner as they were loudly complaining about how he treated them.  They were definitely "Wowed!"  They were more "Wowed" when they turned around to find me saying, "Here, four cups of ice, as you ordered!  Five bucks!"  They gave me ten.  They picked up on the lesson and enjoyed smacking the owner with some short remarks about the treatment.  I went 6 blocks down the road to the mini-mart, bought one bag of ice for $1.50 and ordered a large cheese burger and fries, plus a 12 ounce bottle of juice.  I returned to give the camp kitchen owner his bag of ice for free...but I asked for an empty cup with ice.  He gave it to me with a great deal of disgust.  I took the cup and placed the $2.70 change I had left over onto his counter top and walked away to finish eating the lunch I purchased somewhere else, with his lost profits.  I am sure he was "wowed."  I did not even need to invest a gob of money into buying a mobile kitchen!  In that 30 minutes, I likely cleared more profit than he and I was not even set up to do business like he was.  "Wow."

The Canadians watched the whole piece, they were obviously "Wowed."  I got paid for my free lunch!  Some business owners can allow their ego to miss getting paid  for lunch.  It "wows" me every time I witness stupid stuff like this.

Does your business build "wow" opportunities?  Better yet, do the "wow" experiences your customers receive from you of the good or bad experience nature?  Learn how to build "wow" experiences in your business building efforts.  Try to help them come from good experiences instead of bad ones.  If I had a camp trailer kitchen, I am pretty sure I could have pulled it up next to the other one and ate his lunch!  I am very certain the Canadians would help my networking efforts to attract new customers away from the business next door.

We all have ugly stories to tell.  I have been on the other end of this type of story, plenty.  I recognize when an owner allows their ego to get in front of their money.  I have practiced this same affliction more than I care to admit.  Build "wow" moments as you operate your business developments.  People want to be "Wowed."

Do not look too high and hard for "Wow" moments to build, this one came from a simple cup of ice.  "Wow" moments do not need to be huge and expensive to be effective.  Start small and stay small with your "Wow" work.  Your business 'bottom line' will love you for it.

Until next time...